Of City Harvest & good intentions gone awry

Yes, one more blog that writes about the City Harvest Church (CHC) saga. We hope this is well worth your time.

To begin with, there is nothing wrong with a project that seeks to extend the Christian faith. Obviously, the faith (Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or Hinduism for the matter) is good and it should be shared. To bring the secular over or "Crossover", to what extent should the religious give way to the secular in order to reach to the masses? Feel free to watch Sun Ho's China Wine and Mr Bill videos. When one watches these videos, surely there is an inner voice of reason that says, "something is not right. How does gyrating in skimpy clothes draw one closer to God?" Even the members of the popular Planetshakers band, the music arm of a popular youth movement are appropriately dressed.

Then there are even more disclosures. Even without the charges being brought to light, we have all heard of how CHC members "snap up" Sun Ho's CDs. Sure, showing support for the Pastor's wife involved in Project Crossover is absolutely legit. Buying CDs to support your church's effort is perfectly legit. It becomes questionable when one has to buy x number of CDs in exchange for points or a poster, or a t-shirt etc.

At the same time, it is hard to digest the fact that since the implementation of Project Crossover, Kong Hee and Sun Ho have upgraded from a flat in Tampines (bought SGD 127 000, sold SGD 420 000), to a unit in Horizon Towers at River Valley (SGD 1 million) to a penthouse in Sentosa Cove. This begets another question. We could say that they made shrewd investments or perhaps, won the lottery. Or that their staunch belief in the prosperity gospel have paid off. Even in Hollywood Hills, Sun Ho lives in a posh neighborhood which count Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie amongst other celebrity neighbors. We sure know what Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie do for a living. As far as Hollywood is concerned, who is this Sun Ho? What does she do for a living? Being a pastor is not a high net worth career. So what else do Kong Hee and Sun Ho do to generate so much income?

Yes we are naturally kind-hearted. We should not judge, just like how we thought we were giving wholeheartedly with good intentions to NKF only to find that we were contributing to a toilet fitted with a golden tap. Yet, there are some issues that cannot be ignored.

While we do not speak for the masses, we all have to agree that somehow there is a large degree of inappropriateness in this.


Since the secular approach works for Crossover, it seems appropriate to quote Jules from Pulp Fiction who appears to be paraphasing Psalm 23 and the last line is from Ezekiel 25:17:
"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you." 


Yes Project Crossover began with good intentions. Does it still function with those good intentions?

For some, the stark realization that you have actually become a better person than the supposed servant of God who was supposed to help bridge you towards God can be frightening.

Fret not, sometimes even the best of us get lost. It is now your turn to shepherd the weak home.

* For those who are offended by the Pulp Fiction quote, have a think about the prosperity gospel.